Jean-Eric Vergne's future with Toro Rosso safe: Franz Tost

Jean-Eric Vergne may be out of the race to replace Mark Webber, but Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost said that the French still has a safe future in the team.

Toro Rosso, a sister team of the world champions Red Bull Racing, are considered a place for grooming young drivers to land a place in Red Bull. With Red Bull apparently considering Daniel Ricciardo along with others, Vergne’s future with the Red Bull-owned team was reported to be in doubt.

Tost, however, insists that Vergne is expected to stay with Toro Rosso.

Tost said: “I’m convinced that Jean-Eric Vergne will race next year for Toro Rosso. We must not forget that Jean-Eric came later into Formula One (than Daniel) and why Red Bull Racing is thinking about racing with Daniel Ricciardo next year.

It’s simply because he is more experienced, he showed very good performance in the first half of the season but Jean-Eric Vergne is quite close to him. It’s not that Jean-Eric is out of the team. As far as I’m thinking, next year he is with Toro Rosso.”